Above: Bahamas Foreign Minister Frederick Mitchell and and Dominican Republic Deputy Foreign Minister Cesar Dargam Espaillat, respectively (BIS Photo/Eric Rose)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Bahamas and the Dominican Republic have signed a technical cooperation agreement, the two sides announced Friday.

The pact covers areas including trade and commercial cooperation, academic exchanges and “other areas of mutual interest,” according to a statement from the Bahamian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Crucially, the Bahamas said the agreement would also address the issue of illegal fishing and poaching in Bahamian waters, an issue of some tension between the two countries in recent years.

Bahamas Foreign Minister Frederick Mitchell and Dominican Republic Deputy Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs Cesar Dargam Espaillat signed the agreement on Thursday in Nassau.